Parseltongue
by Romione4Life
Summary: The story of the boa constrictor in the zoo. The lonely snake can't understand why no one will ever talk to him.


**Author's Note: Wow, it's been a long time since I've written a fanfiction that wasn't fluffy and romantic! I got the idea for this story while watching the Chamber of Secrets movie with my friend. We came to the part where they had the dueling club, and I wondered, if Harry thought he was speaking English when he was speaking Parseltongue, do snakes have the same problem? And thus, the idea for this was born. I hope you like it! By the way, yes, I am aware that snakes don't have eyelids.**

**Disclaimer: I must not tell lies! I'm not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own any part of Harry Potter.**

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The life of a snake was a very boring one, thought the boa constrictor. Or at least it was if you lived it in a virtual prison. Maybe other snakes had more exciting lives. How would he know? He'd never been outside the confines of his zoo exhibit.

The zoo had been fun at first. The snake had spent hours exploring his space, stopping only to eat and sleep. Eventually, though, he had become so familiar with it that if he had possessed the ability to write, he could have drawn a perfect map of it. Now, he mostly passed his days sleeping.

Things might not have been so bad if he had a friend. But there was no one to talk to except the humans, and they didn't seem interested in becoming acquainted with a snake. They simply kept him closed up in his exhibit as if he was inferior to them.

It wasn't like the boa constrictor had never tried to talk with the humans. He used to speak to everyone who came by while he was awake. But for some reason, they never seemed to have the desire to interact with him.

Just a few minutes ago, for example, the snake had greeted a young girl who had stopped by. The girl, however, only stared at him for about ten seconds and then ran away to find her mum. Most of the other people had the same reaction. Either that or they looked frightened, as if they thought snake was going to break through the glass and bite their heads off. He could never understand where they got the idea that he was some monster. Was it because he was a different species?

Whatever the case, the snake was extremely lonely. He couldn't believe the humans were so rude to or scared of him that not a single one would reply to him.

Then along came the boy.

The boa constrictor could tell immediately that this wasn't an ordinary boy. He was small and thin, a fact that was emphasized by his oversized clothing. His hair was dark and he wore round glasses. And on his forehead was a jagged, lightning bolt-shaped scar.

The boy was accompanied by two adults, a male and a female, and two other boys, one of which was extremely large. None of them seemed to pay much attention to him. Confused and intrigued, the snake remained still and pretended to be asleep so he could observe them.

"Make it move," the large boy demanded. The adult male, who was presumably the boy's father judging by his appearance, tapped on the glass. This was another common thing that humans did. The snake responded to it at one time, but that had grown old as well.

"Do it again," the large boy commanded. His father obliged, but the snake continued to ignore him.

"This is boring," the large boy said. _You're telling me, _the snake thought as he walked away. Interestingly, the other boy – the one with the strange scar – stayed behind. _This is my chance, _the snake thought.

Hardly daring to breathe, the boa constrictor awoke from his "nap," focused on the boy, and winked. The boy glanced around but didn't leave. He looked at the snake again and winked back. So there _was _something different about this boy.

The snake motioned to the boy's companions and rolled his eyes, trying to convey his aggravation.

"I know," the boy said. "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded, overjoyed. Someone was talking to him!

"Where do you come from, anyway?" the boy went on.

The snake, not quite ready to actually speak yet, pointed toward the sign by his exhibit informing people that he was from Brazil.

"Was it nice there?" the boy asked.

Once again the boa constrictor indicated the sign, this time showing the boy the words that said "This specimen was bred in the zoo."

"Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"

The snake started to shake his head, but the third boy who had been with the group began to yell. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T _BELIEVE_ WHAT IT'S DOING!"

The large boy – Dudley – quickly came back to the exhibit. "Out of the way, you," he said, and to the snake's horror, he punched the nice boy.

Dudley and his friend moved closer to the snake. They pressed up against the glass… and suddenly it wasn't there anymore. The boa constrictor sat frozen in shock until he realized – he was free. He could go home. Eagerly, he stretched himself out and slithered from his former prison, snapping at the two boys for good measure.

"Brazil, here I come," he said softly as he passed by the kind boy, who must have broken the glass somehow. "Thanksss, amigo." With that, he glided gracefully out of the zoo and never looked back.


End file.
